Commencement 1996

School of Medicine announces Commencement speakers and citations

The M.D. Class of 1996 will hear addresses by classmate Alexes Hazen, faculty member Dr. Timothy Flanigan, and Dr. Vivian Pinn, associate director for research on women's health at NIH. The class will also confer its Senior Citation on Dr. Thomas Parrino, professor of medicine at the Brown School of Medicine.

Dr. Vivian Pinn, a leading promoter of medical education for women and minorities, will address the 21st commencement of the Brown University School of Medicine during ceremonies that begin at 8:45 a.m. Monday, May 27, in the First Unitarian Church.

Dr. Pinn, associate director for research on women's health at the National Institutes of Health, will speak on, "Dignity, Equity and Excellence: The Physician's Challenge."

Listed in the National Black Health Leadership Directory, Who's Who in American Women, and African-American Women Heritage Series: Physicians, Pinn has also received The American Medical Women's Association President's Achievement Citation and The African American Women's Achievement Award.

Dr. Timothy Flanigan, assistant professor of medicine, will deliver the faculty address. He will present "Medicine Behind Bars: Lessons from the AIDS Epidemic." Flanigan is associate director of the Brown University AIDS Program, director of the Division of Geographic Medicine and Clinical Immunology at The Miriam Hospital, and medical director of the HIV Prison Care Program at the state Adult Correctional Institute.

Alexes Hazen of Brooklyn, N.Y., is this year's class speaker. An honor grades recipient and student leader, Hazen created a pamphlet on domestic violence used by medical schools nationwide. In Providence, Hazen served as a counselor and executive assistant at the Women's Center. Before entering medical school, she was an AIDS educator, health education volunteer, hospital assistant and Peace Corps member. This summer, Hazen will enter the plastic surgeon residency program at NYU Medical Center. Her talk is titled "The Agony and the Ecstasy: Four Years of Medical School."

This year's winner of the Senior Citation for outstanding service to the graduating class is Dr. Thomas Parrino, professor of medicine. The Senior Citation is the most prestigious award presented during the medical school graduation. Each year, the graduating class of the medical school selects a faculty member of the Division of Biology and Medicine to receive the award. Parrino is considered a top-notch clinician, mentor and advisor.

The School of Medicine will graduate 88 students in the 1996 class. Of those, nine will remain in Rhode Island to begin residency programs. Five graduates will be at Rhode Island Hospital and two each at The Miriam Hospital and Memorial Hospital.

Dr. Donald J. Marsh, dean of medicine and biological sciences, will administer the Physician's Oath to the medical school graduates and preside over its graduation program.